Hide & Seek - Nicole Edwards Page 0,63

time.

Because they’d exhausted their efforts where visiting friends, families, and co-workers were concerned, Brantley decided to send Trey and Baz back to Coyote Ridge. No sense paying a hotel expense when they could sleep in their own beds. Rather than use the jet, they set out mid-afternoon, adding a couple hundred miles to the odometer of the rental car. A text from Baz had confirmed they’d just made it back and he was heading to HQ to look in on JJ, see if she needed anything.

Brantley wasn’t an idiot. He knew Baz had far more interest in his best friend than merely her well-being. Then again, because of that interest, Baz was likely more concerned about her. There was no denying he was glad to know JJ had someone looking out for her. Someone who was not that douchebag Dante Greenwood. Considering that idiot couldn’t look out for his own damn self, he was of no use to JJ. Baz, on the other hand, was proving to be worth his salt.

Now, as Brantley sat on the hotel bed, leaning against the headboard, legs out in front of him, he added a few things to his to-do list for JJ, hoping with Baz and Trey there to help her, she could dig a little deeper into these women’s pasts. At some point, they had crossed paths with the same man. The question was when and where. Once they figured that out, they would be that much closer to finding them.

“I was thinkin’ we could take a couple of hours to relax. Meet up with Z and RT for dinner.”

Brantley looked up, processed Reese’s words. “Your brother?”

“Yeah. He happens to be in town right now. I thought it’d be good to introduce you.”

“You remember I went to high school with him, right?”

“Right.” Reese appeared hesitant, as though Brantley’s statement had been a refusal to go to dinner.

Brantley dropped his feet to the floor, stood. “I’m happy to have dinner with your brother. What about your sister? And your mom? You wanna see them while we’re in town?”

“Thought about it,” Reese said, grabbing his boots to pull them on. “But they’re in Tahoe. Girls’ trip. Skiing and gambling, my mother said.”

“Well, that’s too bad. For us. For them, it sounds like a good time.”

“My mom’s not a big gambler and she hates the cold. If I had to guess, they’re holed up in a cabin, sitting in front of a fire, and enjoying a break from the real world.”

“To each his own. I’ll have to wait until Christmas to meet them.” He grabbed his wallet, tucked it into his pocket. “So where’re we goin’ for dinner?”

“Their place.”

“Oh, yeah?” Brantley grinned. “They trust me enough to invite me into their house, huh?”

“They’re armed to the teeth,” Reese said easily. “They aren’t worried about much.”

That was something Brantley had in common with them.

Because he knew the area better than Brantley and seemed to have an idea of where they were going, Brantley let Reese drive. While he did, Brantley exchanged a few text messages with JJ, asked how Tesha was doing so he could relay the information to Reese. He knew his man was worried about the dog and part of him wished they’d brought Tesha along for the trip. He got the feeling Tesha would be a good partner for Reese.

“You’re not the least bit nervous, are you?”

Glancing over, he studied Reese’s profile. “Should I be?”

“I was a basket case when it came to meetin’ your parents.”

Brantley turned his attention back to the window. “I mean, if you want, I could stutter when I talk to Z.”

“I did not stutter,” Reese said on a rush of air, his forehead creased with worry when he looked over. “Did I?”

“No. Well … not much, anyway.” He laughed, couldn’t help it. “Kidding. You did fantastic.”

Reese’s sigh of relief made Brantley’s heart swell. He didn’t want Reese to be nervous around his family, but he couldn’t deny that it was the little things that he’d fallen for. Reese’s vulnerability was part of it. Mainly because he knew it was a rare characteristic, one that only came out when Reese truly cared about something.

Brantley rested his arm on the center console, turned his palm up, and wiggled his fingers.

Reese glanced down, over to Brantley’s face, then back to the road. And when their fingers twined, he wondered if Reese felt as secure in their relationship as he did.

***

As was always the case, at least since he’d been an adult,